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Kgalema Motlanthe
Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (pronounced mʊ.ˈtɬ’ɑ.n.tʰɛ) (born 19 July 1949) is the President of South Africa and Deputy President of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), played in the Qpawn world by Huzz. He is a former student activist, trade unionist and member of the ANC's military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was appointed president of South Africa by the South African National Assembly on 25 September 2008 after the resignation of Thabo Mbeki, and following the 2009 General Election, was elected President again following his wide public support and strong image. He is South Africa's first Tswana speaking President. Motlanthe, a left-leaning intellectual, is seen as a highly skilled political operator and the brains behind the Zuma faction of the ANC. Early Life Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, the son of a mineworker6 and a garment worker, Sophie Motlanthe. He attended the Anglican Missionary school now known as Pholoso Primary and matriculated from Orlando High School in Meadowlands, Soweto after his family was forcibly removed there in 1959. The formative influence in his early years was the Anglican Church.8 He served as an altar boy for many years and at one point thought of becoming a priest. In the 1970s, while working for the Johannesburg City Council, he was recruited into Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. He formed part of a unit tasked with recruiting comrades for military training. On 14 April 1976, he was arrested for furthering the aims of the ANC and was kept in detention for 11 months at John Vorster Square in central Johannesburg. In 1977 he was found guilty of three charges under the Terrorism Act and sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island, from 1977 to 1987. According to the 1977 Survey of Race Relations Survey: "they were alleged to have undergone training for sabotage, promoted ANC activities, and received explosives for sabotage. All pleaded not guilty. Mr Justice Human found Nkosi and Mothlanthe sic guilty and sentenced them to effective goal sentences of 10 years each. Mosoeu was acquitted." On his years in prison: "We were a community of people who ranged from the totally illiterate to people who could very easily have been professors at universities. We shared basically everything. The years out there were the most productive years in one's life, we were able to read, we read all the material that came our way, took an interest in the lives of people even in the remotest corners of this world. To me those years gave meaning to life." Shortly after his release he was elected Secretary-General of the National Union of Mineworkers. In January 1992 the Central Executive Committee elected him acting General Secretary in January over Marcel Golding, and in 1997 he was elected Secretary-General of the ANC, replacing Cyril Ramaphosa. He is married with two daughters and a son. Minister and Member of Parliament Motlanthe was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress at the party's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December 2007, defeating the Mbeki camp's choice of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The new ANC leadership, dominated by supporters of Jacob Zuma, applied pressure on President Thabo Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe to the cabinet. He became a Member of Parliament in May 2008 and in July was appointed to the cabinet by Mbeki as Minister without Portfolio. This was seen as a step towards a smooth transition to a future Zuma government. Following a resolution by the ANC National Executive Commission to "recall" Mbeki from the presidency, Mbeki announced his resignation on 20 September 2008. On 23 September, Nathi Mthethwa, the ANC's Chief Whip, announced that Mbeki's resignation would take effect on 25 September 2008, and ANC President Jacob Zuma said that his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, would become president until the 2009 general election: "I am convinced – if given that responsibility – he (Motlanthe) would be equal to the task." Presidency On 25 September 2008, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected by Parliament as the third post-apartheid President of South Africa. The Chief Justice, Pius Langa, announced Motlanthe's election after a secret parliamentary ballot contested between Motlanthe and Joe Seremane from the opposition Democratic Alliance. In the ballot, Motlanthe gained 269 votes from the 351 cast. Motlanthe has expressed his desire to address AIDS in South Africa using conventional scientific approaches. He appointed Barbara Hogan to replace Mbeki's health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who had denounced anti-retroviral drugs as poisons and advised the use of olive oil, garlic, and beetroot by HIV-positive persons. In early March 1998 he led the ANC's charge against the Medicines Control Council for refusing to allow the testing of the drug on human subjects. He suggested that the MCC was acting under the sway of rival pharmaceutical manufacturers. "I surmise that the council is driven by other interests than concern for proper control of medicines". —Kgalema Motlanthe South Africa Under Motlanthe Following the abrupt end to the previous round, Huzz immediatly took over the reigns of South Africa at the beginging of the 2009 round as President Kgalema Motlanthe. As Motlanthe, Huzz began debate over the disputed province of Papua/West Papua in Indonesia, by calling on the international community to do more. Australia shortly after, under Aurora Atherton then campainged strongly for greater autonomy for Papua, even threatening war. Motlanthe then secured help from the Netherlands to combat HIV/AIDS, as well as constructing a generic pharamceuical industry to provide lower-cost anti-retrovirals to HIV/AIDS patients in South Africa. Motlanthe also took up leadership roles in the African Union, serving as Chief Diplomat, then Secretary of the AU. Huzz launched a new incentive to attract doctors and volunteers to South Africa, promising to waive airport taxes in return for doctors and health care professionals to undertake a period of employment in South Africa. Huzz also launched Operation:Africa- an attempt to wipe out inequality, not only in South Africa, but accross the continent. An Ebola outbreak occured on Motlanthe's watch, however some quick-thinking and a successful plan was implemented to limit its affects, and as a result Motlanthe stopped the outbreak from spreading and potentially killing thousands. Huzz then moved to condemn Zimbabwe following the murder of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and began to push the African Union for a greater role in securing Zimbabwe's future. Huzz also spent money in securing greater intelligence and military assets in order to be able to take the lead on African Peacekeeping and security missions. Following the 2010 World Cup, Huzz decided to step down as Motlanthe in order to accept a moderator position as Qpawn Africa. Huzz decided to give up South Africa in order to create larger activity in Africa, as previous mods had been unable to pay it the attention it needed, resulting in many players quitting or becoming inactive. Therefore, for the good of the game, Huzz stepped down in order to take on a role he had been campaigning for since the round began.